Manny officially back with L.A. Dodgers

March 4, 2009 6:52:50 AM PST

LOS ANGELES --

The L.A. Dodgers have reached a deal with Manny Ramirez Wednesday morning.Ramirez arrived back in Los Angeles late Tuesday night. Eyewitness News caught Ramirez after he landed at LAX from Miami. He flew in for a 1-hour meeting with Dodger manager Joe Torre.

The deal reportedly includes two years for $45 million, the same deal the Dodgers offered Ramirez four months ago. The payments will be spread over five years. He will be paid $10 million for each of the first four years, and $5 million on the fifth year.

Ramirez has an opt-out clause after the first season.

The deal makes Ramirez the second highest paid baseball player, behind only Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees, who is said to earn $32 million this season.

In 53 games with the Dodgers last year, Ramirez batted .396 and hit 17 homeruns.

Reaching an agreement has not been easy. Agent Scott Boras and Dodgers management spent four months in a sometimes snarky negotiation process.

Ramirez is slated to head to the Dodgers spring training site in Glendale, Arizona, for a news conference.

At the time the Dodgers acquired him from the Boston Red Sox last July 31, Ramirez's contract was amended to eliminate the $20 million team options it included for 2009 and 2010. The new agreement leaves him with a small increase but likely fell short of what Ramirez hoped to gain on the free-agent market.

Opening day is about a month away, so bust out the dreadlocks and the No. 99 jerseys because Ramirez told the L.A. times, "Manny-wood is coming back to town."

Eyewitness News Reporters Sid Garcia and John Hartung contributed to this story.